All Three ‘Dougherty Gang’ Siblings Sentenced to Prison Time

ABC News(DENVER) — The three “Dougherty gang” siblings, who went on a multi-state crime spree in 2011, were sentenced to prison Monday in Colorado. Among them, they will serve 74 years behind bars.

Ryan Dougherty, 22, the last to be sentenced, was given 18 years in prison. He had faced a maximum of 20 years after pleading guilty to five counts of menacing.

Earlier Monday, his sister, Lee Grace Dougherty, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Dylan Dougherty, 27, received a 32-year sentence.

Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, had faced a maximum of 28 years for pleading guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of menacing.

Dylan Dougherty was the only one of the three to be given the maximum sentence. He pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault, according to ABC News Denver affiliate KMGH. The siblings’ crimes included a Colorado shootout with police and a daring bank robbery in Georgia.

“Contrary to a lot of people’s beliefs, I never intended to…I never tried to…I never wanted to hurt anybody,” an emotional Dylan Dougherty told the Huerfano County judge.

“It is true that I acted out of desperation and I am sorry for the choices that I made,” he said tearfully. “I don’t know really what things differently I would have done, but I truly am sorry to anyone who was involved.”

He apologized to police and to bystanders who could have been hurt, and said that his actions were “not to my character.”

Officials in Georgia are waiting for the siblings to be extradited for charges related to the bank robbery. After Monday’s sentencing in Colorado, they are expected to be transported to Albany, Ga., by the U.S. Marshals Service for a hearing May 15.

The three were allegedly driving as fast as 100 miles per hour on Aug. 2 when a Zephyrhills, Fla., police officer tried to pull them over. They fired 20 shots at the officer and escaped when one of the bullets hit the police car’s tire. The officer was not injured. Later that day, the Dougherty gang allegedly robbed a Valdosta, Ga., bank while wearing masks and firing rounds at the ceiling from an AK-47 rifle.

Police caught up with the three on Aug. 10, 2011 in Colorado after receiving a tip that they had been spotted buying camping equipment. After a 20-mile chase down a Colorado Interstate, the Doughertys’ car flipped over and landed on top of a guard rail.

The siblings share a lengthy criminal history that included 20 felonies among them before the additional 70 charges they racked up from their 2011 crime spree. Their previous charges range from drug possession to battery and burglary.